After breakfast & finishing packing I headed into the square for a coffee. I couldn’t find my neck cushion & think I must have left it in the overhead luggage compartment on the plane from Barcelona. We walked the 20 mins to the bus station, the bus was about 1/2 full, unfortunately no wifi was available, nor a charger or toilet. We did stop a number of times for toilet breaks & slightly longer at one bus station for lunch but unfortunately although we had some snacks we hadn’t brought lunch with us & the lunch stop wasn’t close to any shops or cafes that we could see. We stopped in Montpelier, Nimes, Aix-de-Provence, Cannes, Nice airport & Nice central bus stop, which is where we got off. The country side was lovely, we followed the Midi canal for quite a way & then crossed it again, the canal is 240 km long & runs from Toulouse to Etang de Thau. We could see snow covered mountains in the distance, passed a number of chateaus, Basilicas & vineyards. We left Toulouse at 10.30am & arrived in Nice slightly earlier than the scheduled 7.30pm. Our apartment was a 20 min walk, we texted to say we had arrived & buzzed the door phone, I then texted again, I double checked & realised I had a wrong digit, so texted again, Richard then rang, we rang again & left a message, & then rang again a 3 rd time. By this time it was 8pm & we were beginning to think we would need to find a hotel for the night when the lady arrived, a cousin of one of the owners who live in Grasse. She hadn’t brought the correct keys with her so couldn’t buzz in the door, luckily someone came out so we could go in.

Although there was a lift you had to climb about 12 steps before the lift lobby, these old buildings have narrow staircases, the light went off a few times, I slipped over about 3/4 of the way up, Richard came to help but didn’t have a good hold on my bag & it went all the way back down the stairs!!! We eventually got both bags up to the lift lobby & Richard, the two bags & the lady squeezed into the lift, she said top floor so I started to walk up the stairs, the lights went off, I think I must have pressed at least two doorbells on the way up instead of the light switches, oops , it wasn’t the top floor it was the one below so I’d walked up two flights too many, by this stage I was really hungry & a bit fed up. We get the bags out of the lift & up more stairs, luckily there’s a key box. She asks how many days we are staying as we had a lot of luggage, so I say were away six months. She shows us around the apartment & I ask about a supermarket, we’d seen the monprix open when we walked past, she said most are closed on a Monday & that if they are open they close at 8.30, it was after 8.30 by this stage. Anyway she eventually goes & Richard & I headed out quickly to the supermarket & purchase fresh pasta (pesto) a tomato sauce, mushrooms, yoghurt, milk & some wine & head back to the apartment. We finish dinner at about 10pm, Richard thinks this is much too late as dinner should be served at 5pm lol. The apartment is lovely, a great location & nicely decorated, so pleased we eventually got in! Our 1st difficulty with gaining access, let’s hope out last!!